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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 5718974" data-attributes="member: 54707">Sorry about the delay in replying haakon1. I got called away on  assignment. I agree with everything you said and if I stated things in a  way as to be misunderstood then I apologize. It's a sort of parallel subject I know, but in my  opinion gaming is generally good for you and can have many benefits for you in  real life. I too have a number of military and law enforcement buddies who game  or grew up gaming. (Of course I don't want to limit real life adventuring to  just law enforcement or the military, many occupations are adventurous. I just  used those because they are obvious and easy to understand  examples.)   And you can learn a lot useful in gaming that can  be applied to real world situations or to real world problem solving. (I  actually first learned to read maps and navigate with a compass, and to  draw accurate maps by playing Wargames and RPGs.) I think there is a correlation  between gaming and problem solving skills, and even real life "adventuring  skills." I've often argued for this. And I'm a firm believer that where the mind  goes so will go the rest of the man, eventually.    My only point is that there is a certain sub-group  of gamers who seem to separate out the real world and the gaming world (as if  they are at odds with one another) or to stop at the point of mental  imagination, and not go on to apply their imaginary capabilities (I'm not using  imaginary in the sense of "fictional", but in the sense of, "beginning in the  imagination") to other aspects or realms of their life.   That is the line of demarcation I think between  gaming communities and real life.    Actually I think real life can be quite useful for  gaming and gaming can be quite useful for real life, and I'm often stumped by  those who imagine themselves some great thing (in their minds) but will not  apply those same mental or physical or imagined or problem solving (or whatever  they possess) capabilities to solving real world problems.    It seems to be a huge waste of  potential.   And to be absolutely honest if some of this  sub-group of gamers put nearly as much effort, mental energy, imagination, and  outright devotion into solving the problems around them as they do to gaming  (not that there is anything wrong with gaming, either as training or enjoyment  or a spur to the imagination, or all three) then there wouldn't be as many  problems around them.   That's my opinion of where the real line between  gaming and the real world exists. And on what I see as a huge waste of real  potential.   However I did not want to imply that all  gamers are living in an escapist fantasy world or that gaming does a person no  good. Actually I really believe the opposite, that gaming and the  imagination can be very useful tools for the real world. It builds  innovation, flexibility, and problem solving capabilities in the players. Rather  than just relying upon magic, or technology, or super-powers, or whatever the  mechanic du-jour of the game might be.    And as a matter of fact I not only let my players  use their real world skills in-game (if it is appropriate - if we're playing  D&D there is no use for computer skills, but there might be for analyzing  codes) I encourage it and let the players write it into their character skill  sets.   I actively encourage Real World and Gaming  Skill-Set Interfacing and practice. I think it's good practice for the players  and actually make sit far more enjoyable for them to be able to use real world  skill sets in-game.   Anyways, gotta hit the hay. See ya.  </blockquote>

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